Daylight robbery at Mayur Vihar petrol pump, 2 hurt

In a daring daylight armed robbery, two employees of a petrol pump suffered gunshot injuries after three unidentified bike-borne robbers opened fire outside a government bank in the crowded Mayur Vihar Phase-I market in east Delhi on Monday mroning.

They robbed the victims of their bag containing Rs 5 lakh that was to be deposited in the bank.

The robbery took place around 9.30 am. One of the victims, identified as Ravi, 32, sustained two bullet injuries in his abdomen and his condition was stated to be critical. The other victim, Mamraj, 54, too suffered two bullet injuries — one in his hand and another bullet grazed past his stomach.

Both of them are undergoing treatment at Jeevan Anmol Hospital.

Ajay Bansal, owner of Image filling station located in Mayur Vihar, said his two injured employees and four other staff of the petrol pump had gone to deposit the money in the bank.

“Ravi and Mamraj were in a white Mahindra XUV with two other staff while my two other employees were giving them a security cover on a motorcycle. They parked the vehicles outside the bank. As soon as Mamraj stepped out of the SUV with the bag in his hand, one of the three robbers who were waiting near the bank tried to snatch the bag,” said Bansal adding two of the robbers were carrying pistols.

Mamraj, Bansal said, resisted the snatching attempt after which the second robber fired a bullet in the air to scare him. “When Ravi intervened and resisted the attempt, the miscreants, who were holding pistols, opened indiscriminate fire on my employees. They fired 10 bullets, five of which hit Mamraj and Ravi. They snatched the bag from Mamraj’s hand and fled on a black Hero Honda motorcycle,” Bansal added.

“This is for the seventh time in the last three years that criminals have targeted my petrol pump. Three employees who worked at my petrol pump have died in those seven incidents. We have made repeated requests to top Delhi police, including the Commissioner of Police, for increasing security at petrol pumps but so far nothing has been done. The petrol pump dealers across the city have decided to hold a meeting in the next couple of days and discuss the seriousness of the matter,” he said.

Asif Mohammad, additional DCP (east), said they have registered a case at the Pandav Nagar police station and have formed teams to investigate it. “Our preliminary investigation hints at the involvement of an ‘insider’.We are examining footage of CCTV cameras installed in the market to identify the robbers,” he said.